


I Told You Once

by BrutallyRomantic



Series: Tell Me More [2]
Category: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: Dubious Consent, F/F, Stockholm Syndrome
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:00:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28435032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrutallyRomantic/pseuds/BrutallyRomantic
Summary: Imprisoned, the reader may or may not form an unhealthy attachment, and be forced to pay the price. Betrayal, perceived or actual, can have terrible consequences. /Sequel to Tell Me More
Relationships: Olivia Octavius/Reader
Series: Tell Me More [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2082813
Comments: 8
Kudos: 43





	1. Chapter 1

There's a bitter bite in the air that you're unable to identify. A part of you wonders if it isn't just the bitterness of reality lingering on your tongue. After all, you were betrayed, and it still aches, though now it burns less as it's settled in your stomach like a stone. The afterimage of Liv lingers every time you close your eyes, the look on her face as she sold you out to her double. And this only moments after discovering that she'd survived and not mentioned a thing.

Of course she wouldn't, it's not as if you were dating. But you'd really believed there was _something_. Something between you that meant she would…oh maybe…let you know she hadn't been obliterated?

Clearly she thought otherwise.

In any case, whether there was something there, or you'd simply been a couple of people enjoying somewhat frequent rounds of marathon fucking, it doesn't matter. The fact is that you've been a prisoner of your ex-lover's other-dimensional double for a little over a week and since that first day she's done…nothing.

Not a damned thing. It's unnerving.

In fact, after bringing you to a place that looks suspiciously similar to the bunker beneath the collider (if a bit bigger), she even left you comfortable. You're cuffed to a bed, which had certainly given you reason to panic at first. But the chain is long enough for you to lay in a variety of positions and even stand and stretch. Your only real complaint, outside of being held against your will, is the fact that you have only textbooks to keep you company and the lighting is not the best. 

Though, you suppose that's your own fault.

The sound of the wrong-Liv entering the bunker is one you've become accustomed to, and one that draws your attention instantly.

"And how is my pet scientist doing today?" she coos in a tone patronizing but no longer irritating. You still don't want to risk outright snapping at her, so you mind your own tone. But the look on your face is impossible to shift, annoyed and unhappy.

Of course though, why wouldn't you be?

"I'd be a lot happier if I were anywhere else", you respond, subdued but displeased.

"Getting bored?" she laughs as she strides across the bunker on her own two feet, dropping herself into a chair in front of a computer that's out of your reach. Your ankle, rubbed nearly raw, shows the fruits of your effort to pull against your bonds and stretch far enough to reach it, though the other Liv hasn't commented on it. "You know, I can think of a thing or two to occupy our time." The leer on the villain's face leaves no question as to what she has in mind, but you've turned her down every other time and now is no different.

"I'm pretty sure you know where I stand on that."

The wrong-Liv pouts and rolls her eyes, but she makes no move to change your mind. "You can keep dreaming of rescue all you like, but no one is coming. And _she_ ", she emphasizes the word with a Look, and the reference is obvious, "doesn't seem to care that you're in my clutches."

The truth hurts. The bunker has to be Liv's, and thus she knows just where you are, so the lack of reaction in the form of a rescue only enforces the idea that you were nothing more than a fun fuck. Fixing the other Liv with a glare and a scowl, you show no signs of giving in to her digs, no matter that they hurt more than you'd care to admit. "Go fuck yourself, because I'm not inclined to do it."

Sighing dramatically in a way reminiscent of your own Liv, the lanky woman stands and stalks towards you. This is new, she hasn't approached you physically other than to offer a meal since your very first denial on day one.

_You struggled against the soft robotic appendage wrapping your middle with everything you had, screaming bloody murder up until a second artificial limb curled around your face to halt your sounds, and your breathing. In a panic, you fought harder, but it wasn't until your limbs went limp and the world was nearly overtaken by black spots that your captor allowed you to draw breath again. In that moment, she'd stopped where she stood and drew you close to her face, a dangerous gleam in her eyes as she commanded you to silence._

_Lacking energy and air, and terrified that she would rescind the latter once again, you complied._

_It wasn't two full minutes later that she was breaking into a warehouse on the outskirts of the city and entering another bunker through yet another secret entrance. How many of these did Liv have? You wouldn't know._

_Once inside, she'd practically tossed you across the space, your body thumping onto a bed and knocking the air from your lungs again. You expected her to be on you in an instant, but she'd tapped away at the computer for several long seconds, giving you time to get your bearings. To one side was a bookshelf, stocked with thick, dusty texts, and to the other a nightstand with a drawer and a small lamp._

_Without hesitation, you grabbed at the lamp and heaved it in the wrong-Liv's direction, jumping from the bed to try and escape._

_You knew it was useless, really, if this woman was anything like your Liv, but what else could you do but try? Surrender? Fuck no._

_Snatching the lamp in mid air, it was almost adding insult to injury when the wrong-Liv set it down neatly while yanking you into the air as well. Shouting again, you demanded your freedom and she had the nerve to laugh at you and keep you held where you were as she turned back to the lit up monitor, completely ignoring your struggles._

_It was growing more and more uncomfortable, being held like that, as she spent long minutes at the computer and ignoring your waning screams. The bunker is soundproof, she informed you offhandedly, recommending you save your screams for better things._

_Going cold, you just tried harder. You were more than aware of what your Liv was capable of, but this woman was not her. She might share some things with her, but this was a different woman. And the last thing you want right now is to be any sort of intimate with anyone at all, much less_ her _._

_Finally, as your screams have turned into pleas, she turned from the computer, pressing another key and shutting it down to give you her full attention._

_"Now", she said with a wicked grin, "where were we?" Again she flung you across the room, harder this time. You hit the wall once before bouncing down to the bed with a thud and a groan. Fuck._

_"Let me go, you bitch!"_

_Your demand made her laugh, and you couldn't do a damn thing as she stalked towards the bed but scramble back to press yourself against the wall. She didn't stop, grasping your ankle and giving it a hard yank with one strong tentacle and crawling up until she was straddling you. Tutting over the terrified tears welling in your eyes, she traced your cheek with a deceptively gentle finger, grasping each of your wrists in a tentacle to halt the useless punches you'd been flinging._

_"Oh hush. We both know you like me. Sort of." She laughed again, delight in her eyes as you shudder, all too reminded of a woman you'd thought might have loved you. "Just be a good little prisoner and do as you're told." With that she'd leaned in to capture you in a heated kiss just like the one you'd offered her not long earlier, before you'd realized she was not who she seemed._

_And that was that, the next thing you knew your head was snapped sideways as she delivered a hard slap to your face. Even this wasn't all too unusual for your dalliances with your Liv, though this Liv was decidedly angrier._

_"You_ bit _me!" she shouted indignantly._

_"Damn right I did", you growled in reply, fighting the terror that was telling you to simply give in and let her have you. You knew your body would respond, as it already had begun to stir despite the horror and fear thrumming through your veins. Fuck, this was a bad time to get off on a little bit of fright. "And I'll do it again", you insisted, putting all your energy and focus into giving the woman the dirtiest look you could muster. "You're not her, and I'm not going to give you a damned thing!"_

_The look in the wrong-Liv's eyes was half unreadable, but you saw a blend of fury and excitement that sent streaks of frightened arousal through you in a way you were wholly uncomfortable with in your position._

_"A_ fighter _", she hissed, her voice dropping, her tongue flicking out to dab at her injured lip. You spotted a trickle of crimson that declared you'd bitten hard and a thrill of victory bolstered you. "Oh, I love it when they fight", she laughed in a way you couldn't help but fear, and yet in the next second she was across the room again. "I'll be back for you, pet."_

And then she was gone. The next day when she returned, you hadn't slept, so your fight was weaker. But it still took her holding you with her robotics before she could get the cuff and chain around your ankle, binding you to the bed before she left you with a meal and a wink.

Now though, now she's physically approaching you for the first time in days, but you refuse to cower this time. Though you remain on your guard, you know for a fact that there's little you can do to actually fight her. Biting her again likely won't work, but you keep it in mind, eyes flickering to her lip as she seats herself on the edge of the bed and gives you a long look.

"What?" you spit when she says nothing for a full minute and a half. Her lips split in a grin.

"You're stronger than I gave you credit for", the wrong-Liv says, leaning back on her hands. You fight the urge to kick out at her in favour of maintaining the seemingly civil conversation. "I would have gone out of my mind with boredom on day one."

You gesture to the side without a word, indicating the bookshelf that is now clear of dust and missing several books. They sit on the nightstand beside you, and you fight another urge to throw one at your kidnapper. It would do just as much good as the lamp did the first time, you're sure.

"Books are all well and good, but don't you crave a little action?" By the way her eyes drop to your body before lifting to your face again, you know what she's trying to imply and you decide to step on that.

"I do miss my morning jog", you answer dryly, to which she cringes.

"Jogging? You really do that? What's the point?"

"Exercise? Healthy living? Being fast enough to get away when there's a threat?" You offer your reasons and she smirks.

"A lot of good that did you", comes the snark with a pointed look to the chain keeping you within two meters of the bed.

"You cheated", you scowl, crossing your arms and wondering at the longest conversation you've had with the woman thus far. The wrong-Liv waves a dismissive hand and shrugs.

"Using the tools one is given is hardly cheating." She looks like she wants to say more but suddenly she's seizing and for a second she seems to go in and out of focus, pain writ across her features. Your first reaction, annoyingly, is concern, as you push towards her to make sure that she's alright.

Fuck. What are you doing? In the next second she's fine again, a bead or two of sweat dripping down the side of her face and you hate yourself for showing any sort of worry for the woman.

"Aw geez, I didn't know you cared", she mocks, but her voice seems strained briefly.

"I don't. You just look like _her_. It was a reflex", you defend yourself and she laughs, again strained.

"Please. She doesn't deserve your care. She doesn't give a fuck that you're here with me."

The civil air between you two is gone and you hiss at her, "Just leave me alone then. I want nothing to do with you. I hope you decay and fucking die."

Immediately there's a flash of both worry and fury and even, strangely, hurt, but then it's gone and she's standing up, speaking as if nothing matters. "Well, if I die, then you die. No one is looking for you, so I hope you enjoy starving."

It's a very real possibility that you hadn't considered and the stricken look on your face shows that the wrong-Liv has won this round. She's gone again before you can argue further, off to do who-knows-what as you chew on the reality that your captor is the only thing currently standing between you and a slow, painful death.


	2. Chapter 2

_The purr of a familiar voice has your skin prickling, gooseflesh erupting where the whisper tickles at the back of your neck._

_"Close your eyes."_

_The command comes and you follow it without thought, the monitor you'd been working at disappearing. More and more lately you've been working late, eager to help the woman you'd fallen for realize her vision. While you don't know the full picture, and there's no way you'd be able to do something like this on your own, the parts of the programming you'd been working on are becoming easier in some way. Or perhaps you're just feeling less like it's a task and more like this is something you would do whether you were being paid or not._

_Not that you could do without your salary for the sake of love, or some other such nonsense. **Feelings** aren't going to pay your rent._

_Anyway._

_Hands smooth over your shoulders and you expect them to dip lower down your front, but they stay where they are. Firm fingers begin to work at the tension that had been building over the last few weeks, and you can't keep from releasing a satisfied groan as your head tilts forward._

_"I've noticed how hard you've been working", Liv purrs behind you, her lips almost touching your ear. Every time before, she'd moved in quickly and methodically taken you apart like you were one of her experiments, but this is slower. Rather than speeding towards the goal, she's savoring the journey, those deceptively strong hands moving over the contours of your muscles. Her thumbs slide up the back of your neck, she tuts at what she finds. "You should work on your posture. You're going to be a hunchback if you keep going like this."_

_Liv would know a thing or two about posture, you know, with the way she's forced to hold herself just so while using her fabulous soft robotics. There's something gentle in her tone, almost concerned rather than playful. This doesn't feel like she's leading to something, though your heart speeds up anyway._

_"I just want to make sure I do everything I can", you respond in a low voice. "You deserve to have your dream realized."_

_She chuckles behind you, fingers sliding higher to tangle in your hair. "This may seem hypocritical, but everyone needs a break sometimes. There are other people who work here, you know."_

_Hypocritical indeed. No one works harder that Liv does, and everyone knows it. She's always the last out of the lab, and often one of the first there in the morning. Hell, you know for a fact there's a side room with a bed in it that she occupies more often than not._

_"It's not like I have anything to get home to", you reason, but it sounds a lot more depressing when said aloud than it sounded in your head._

_The way Liv massages your scalp is utterly relaxing, and you suddenly feel the weight of your tired body, sagging a bit._

_"Mmhmm", she hums, undeterred by your excuse. "You need rest." It's decisive and she doesn't seem to be giving up anytime soon. "Stand up. Let Rose finish this in the morning."_

_Again you obey, eyes opening as you turn to face her. Liv captures one of your hands in hers and offers you a wide smile. "There's my good girl." Warmth blooms in your belly and spreads to your face._

_"Gonna kick me out of the lab now?" You ask teasingly, and she shakes her head._

_"You're coming home with me so I can make sure you rest", Liv announces without a hint of hesitation, lifting your hand to her lips to plant a kiss on the cold skin._

_"But-"_

_"No arguments from you", she interrupts. "You need sleep. And I'm going to make sure you get it." There's a tug in your belly and it's pleasant until it's not. It swirls and jerks you from reality just a bit at a time._

Awaking in a cold sweat, the jerking in your body stops when you're suddenly upright and panting in bed.

Fuck. Another dream. Another dream about _her_ and the times you'd shared that had so easily tricked you into believing there was something there that there clearly wasn't. Rubbing that spot between your eyebrows in a way that's become a stress-relieving habit over the years, you sigh raggedly.

"Bad dreams?"

Your head snaps up so quickly you almost hurt your neck, the voice from across the room startling you the rest of the way into wakefulness. At the desk is the wrong-Liv, reclining on the chair with her feet up on the desk, eyes fixed on you intently.

"How long have you been there?" You ask in a tone that can't seem to decide if it's pissed or nervous.

"Long enough", she answers like some sort of cartoon villain and you frown at how vague she's being. "Long enough to know that you talk in your sleep." Your heart jumps into your throat, pulse picking up. What is that supposed to mean?

"So?" You challenge her, sitting up straighter in the bed, though the blankets are still tugged up to your chest as if they might provide some sort of protection. "Lots of people talk in their sleep."

The other-dimensional scientist's eyes glitter with what you can only assume is wicked glee as she slowly lowers her legs to the floor and stands. "I'm betting lots of people don't moan their _employer's_ name." She takes easy steps towards the bed, a mocking smile on her face. "It was cute", she says. "I'm here to listen if you want to talk about her."

Even with the current rush of adrenaline that the shock of the wicked woman's presence induced, you're still waking up and the possibility lingers before you as an actual option for half a second before sanity returns and you scowl heavily. "Talk to _you_? About _her_? Please." The ridiculousness of that thought makes you snort bitterly and add, "You probably know more about her than I do anyway."

A frown forms on the wrong-Liv's face and she looks truly irritated by your rejection before she wipes it away. You don't bother to draw attention to the expression that had marred her normally calm facade.

It's hard enough just to look at the face of the woman who'd betrayed you every day, you don't care to point out the slips in her mask and show just how well you really know this face.

"I'm not convinced you understand how the multiverse functions. Just because we share similarities in genetic makeup does not mean that we've had a shared experience. And I'm nothing if not thorough. Gathering information on my doppelganger is only logical scientifically, is it not?"

"So I'm here as a spy?" you ask with a snort. "Clearly she didn't tell me anything _really_ important." Gesturing to the bunker around you, you make your point. "I don't know what you expect to learn from me."

"You two were fucking, right?" The wrong-Liv questions plainly, and though you were, it's a little embarrassing to have it put like that. Taking your silence as enough of a confirmation, the scientist nods. "Uh-huh, and that affords you a unique look into her mind. Which is valuable to me right now." Her gaze sharpens, roving your body. "Unless you'd prefer I find other uses for you."

Paling as she references what she hadn't since that first day, you shake your head, hands fisting in the blankets serving as a makeshift shield. And here you were just started to grow slightly more comfortable around the woman. You definitely should've known better.

"Is there a third option?" You joke weakly. She actually laughs at that, stepping closer with a grin.

"I'm afraid not. But I'm going to let you choose, isn't that kind of me?" While her expression says far more in the way of hunger than kindness, you try to stay positive. Maybe you can outsmart her.

Right. You have about as much chance of that as you had of outsmarting the proper Liv.

"I wouldn't say it's particularly kind, no", you dare to answer, because what can it hurt? She still wants something from you, and it doesn't seem as if she has any desire to resort to inflicting pain in order to get it. Humiliation maybe, but you can handle _that_. The wrong-Liv shrugs.

"If I choose for you, I'm choosing both. I doubt you would like that very much either now, would you?" That's not a very pleasant prospect. And though some small part of you wants to believe it's a bluff, you aren't sure that's a risk you can afford right now. "Well then", she goes on when it's clear you're not going to say anything more, "here's how we're going to do this." Sidling closer, the doctor seats herself beside you on the bed with a grin that says she knows she's won.

"Wait, I-" You're cut off by a hand at your jaw, gripping it tightly. But where you expect a harsh expression, the wrong-Liv looks positively giddy.

"No, no. You don't get to talk right now. Right now you're going to listen, understand?" She drags at your jaw to make you nod. "Good. Now, here's what we're going to do. I'm going to ask you a question, and you're going to answer it." It sounds easy enough, but you really have no plans to simply surrender. "Should you elect not to answer, I expect recompense."

There's the catch. Your look of disbelief is met with a shit-eating grin.

You don't want to do it, but you really would rather not tempt fate should she decide that she does actually desire to employ more violence than she has thus far. And with the way the light in your eyes dims, the wrong-Liv can clearly see victory.

_What's her favourite colour? What does she generally eat for lunch? How long does she stay in the office?_ The questions are nothing special, mundane even, and you don't see the harm in sharing the answers. Especially if it preserves your dignity.

It goes on like this for awhile and when the wrong-Liv seems to be satisfied, she takes her leave, without you having moved an inch in your captor's direction. It defies explanation, but you choose to be grateful.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring.

The following days are more of the same however. And while the doctor seats herself on what you've come to think of as your bed, she doesn't invade your space beyond that. It's surprising in the sense that you never got the impression that personal space was much of a concern to either version of Liv, but it's relieving. It seems she is holding to her unspoken promise to allow you the choice to answer or otherwise face the consequences.

But you knew the time would come in which the questions turned in a direction you don't wish to answer. You really thought it would be more along the lines of your Liv's work, or something else as personal and classified. You never expected her to get as personal with questions about _you_.

"How many times have you slept together?" She asks on the fourth day of questioning, and you hesitate. That's none of her business, and not something you care to think about right now.

"I don't see how that matters."

"Then pucker up", she says with more than a trace of amusement. Huffing, and ignoring the swirling anxiety in your lower stomach, you shake your head.

"I never actually agreed to that."

"I don't remember giving you a choice", comes the retort. The gleam in the wrong-Liv's eye begs you to fight her, the outcome of that particular scenario more than clear before even beginning.

"This isn't very scientific."

"Of course it is. Watching you struggle is a valuable learning experience." Wrinkling your nose at her reasoning before smoothing out your expression, you suck it up. Fine. Whatever. It's not as if you didn't already plant one on her moments after you'd met.

Leaning in, you push an unwilling kiss on the scientist's outstretched face, and hate yourself in some small way for noting how warm her cheek is. It's a little surprising that she doesn't press the issue and go for more. No, she simply goes on asking questions, and now, here and there, you find that choosing not to answer, while distasteful, is not altogether as awful as you might have expected.

And so it goes, answered and unanswered, the questions go on.

Two more days later, you witness her glitch for the first time. It's not as pronounced as you might've expected, but it happens in a fairly obvious way.

In the middle of a sentence, her features twist in pain and suddenly it's as if there are two of her face, splitting and then coming together again in the space of a second. You would have thought you'd imagined it were it not for the way her pained expression lingered for another couple of breaths, her questioning coming to a temporary halt.

Eyeing you as she pants, the jovial tone she'd been questioning you in is gone, replaced by one dangerous and far more like you expect from her.

"You know that if this goes on and I die, you're doomed, correct?" The reminder chills you. Yes, of course you're aware. And what exactly does she expect you to do about it? Her gaze is cautious when you ask in a tone less snippy than you normally would. "I expect your help, what else? And before you make a fuss, remember that the version of me here wouldn't help me if I begged on bent knee. So if you don't, you will most certainly die."

And still you're silent. Sure, you might die. But is your life really worth setting this woman free on the world?

The wrong-Liv lets out a little huff at the internal conflict she must be able to read in your eyes. "Even with your life on the line you hesitate. Did I really have the poor luck to snag a scientist with something as useless as morals?"

Bristling, you argue, "Is it really so surprising that I might value the many over my own life? It's not hard to weigh it out. And I doubt you have anything good in mind." The wrong-Liv scoffs.

"What do you think I'm going to do? My primary goal is to return home in one piece, thank you very much. But seeing as my own collider took the better part of a decade to construct, and the version here is likely to take something like half that long to repair, I'm going to need to be stabilized just to live to see the repairs completed."

While that's reasonable, you have very little faith in the word of the woman who'd kidnapped you and alluded to essentially using you. Five years does make your stomach twist into a knot, and you can't help but be fearful. 

"F-...five years?" You ask incredulously. "You can't seriously be planning to keep me imprisoned for five years!" Panic makes you shout, but the wrong-Liv answers with a malicious smile.

"Have you reconsidered your stance on helping me then?" Batting her eyes at you in a mockery of innocence, she places a finger under your chin and tilts her head. "Because if you haven't, it's only a matter of time before I leave one day and never return."

Fear paralyzes you where you sit, and you do absolutely nothing as greedy eyes rove your face, drinking in your terror and your surrender. You do nothing as she leans forward, lips curled upwards at the corners. You do nothing as her mouth brushes yours so tenderly that for a moment you can pretend she's your Liv as your eyes fall shut. 

You do nothing.


End file.
